Former two-time UFC featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega took on the former UFC interim champion, Yair Rodriguez, in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night: Mexico. The fight ended with Ortega coming out on top after an early 3rd round submission. However, Ortega did manage to stir up some drama after his win.

Despite his impressive performance, Ortega’s submission win did manage to stir up a bit of controversy. After the event, the referee for the fight, Marc Goddard, came up to reveal some insider information on his vocal stoppage of the fight.

Marc Goddard gives an insight into the controversial submission by Brian Ortega

Ortega held on to the submission a few seconds longer, despite Rodriguez tapping out. This led to the ref, Marc Goddard being quite vocal against Ortega. However, all things seem sorted between the two after a statement released by the UFC referee on his X (Twitter) account.

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In the tweet, Goddard wrote, “We had a little conversation, nothing but respect & thanks. All my interactions with Brian have always been great, he was just a little caught in the moment of the tap. Nothing to see here. Let’s just celebrate an amazing fight & wonderful night in Mexico.”

Goddard is one of the best referees in MMA, so it wasn’t surprising to see the big man jump in at the right time to stop Rodriguez from sustaining any more damage than he needed to. Ortega went on to give a statement of his own about the incident that took place during the end of the fight.

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Ortega reveals why he held onto the submission longer than needed

During the post-fight interview of UFC Fight Night: Mexico, the winner of the co-main event took to the stage to address his spectacular win against Yair Rodriguez. In the interview, he also talked about the debacle that took place at the end of the fight.

“T-City” revealed that he was having an irritation with his eardrums after the weight cut from the night before. He said, “When I went in, I kind of dove deep, and I clenched my jaw and I could not really hear anything. Just squeezed for dear life and it was like, ‘Whatever you do, don’t let go’… after, I apologized to the ref and everybody, said I’m sorry.” 

Despite the controversial submission, in the end, no one can deny Ortega of his amazing performance against a top contender like Rodriguez. However, was the performance enough to secure him a shot at the UFC featherweight title? Give us your take in the comments section below.

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